Apparatus for measuring the spray angle of a nozzle



Sept. 15, 1953 w. F. SMITH 2,651,844

APPARATUS FOR MEASURING THE SPRAY ANGLE OF A NOZZLE Filed Jan. 4, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR.

WILLIAM F. SMITH.

Filed Jan. 4, 1952 W. F. SMITH Sept.'l5, 1953 APPARATUS FOR MEASURING THE SPRAY ANGLE OF A NOZZLE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. WILLIAM E SMITH.

ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 15, 1953 APPARATUS FOR MEASURING THE SPRAY ANGLE OF A NOZZLE William F. Smith, Irvington, N. J., assignor to Curtiss-Wright Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Application January 4, 1952, Serial No. 264,961

8 Claims. (01. 3375) This invention relates to measuring apparatus and is particularly directed to apparatus for measuring the spray angle of a fluid spray nozale.

Accurate knowledge of the spray angle and direction of the fuel spray from the fuel nozzles of turbo-prop, turbo jet and ram jet engines is necessary for the proper design of the combustion chambers of said engines. Accordingly an object of the present invention comprises the provision oi novel and simple apparatus for measuring said spray angle of a nozzle as well as the angle between the axis of said spray and the axis of its nozzle.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent upon reading the annexed detailed description in connection with the drawing in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view of measuring apparatus embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the apparatus illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a top view partly broken away of the apparatus illustrated in Fig. l; and

Figs. 4 and 5 are sectional views taken along lines 44 and 5-5 respectively of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing, a fuel spray nozzle ill whose spray angle is to be measured is mounted on the end of a fuel supply conduit [2. A first bracket, comprising a rod I4 having a split clamp l6 at one end, is clamped about the fuel conduit l2 with the rod l4 extending at right angles from said conduit. A second bracket It! has a split clamp 20 at one end which is clamped about the rod l4 with said bracket extending parallel to the fuel conduit l2.

A sector-shaped plate 22 is pivotally connected at its apex end to the bracket l8 by a screw 24. The bracket I8 is disposed so that the axis of said pivot connection intersects the axis of the nozzle ID at the discharge end of said nozzle. For this purpose the rod I4 can be secured in any desired position of adjustment along the fuel conduit 12. In addition a screw 26 is disposed on the under side of the bracket l8 co-axial with the screw 24 to facilitate alignment of said pivot axis with the discharge end of the nozzle It as best seen in Fig. 2. The sector-shaped plate 22 also has a circular guide slot 28 co-axial with said pivot axis of said plate. A screw 3|] extends through the slot 28 into the bracket l8 for guiding pivotal movement of the plate 22.

First and second arms 32 and 34 are also pivotally connected to the bracket l8 by the screw 24, said arms extending forwardly from their pivot axis in the general direction of the fuel discharge from the nozzle Ill. A U-shaped bracket 36 is secured along one of its legs to the sector-shaped plate 22 between rearward extensions 38 and 40 of the arms 32 and 34 respectively. A screw or threaded rod 42 extends between the legs of the bracket 36, said screw having a pair of annular flanges 44 engaging opposite sides of the bracket 36 to prevent axial movement of the screw relative to said bracket while permitting rotative adjustment of said screw and sliding of said screw along the slot provided by the legs of the U-shaped bracket 36.

The two ends of the screw 42, on opposite sides of the flanges 44, have similar threads of opposite hand. Nut elements 46 and 48 are threaded on the screw 44 with said elements disposed on opposite sides of and equi-distant from the flanges 44. As best seen in Fig. 5, the nut element 4B is secured to the rearward extension 38 of the arm 32 by a screw 50 and the nut element 48 is secured to the rearward extension 40 of the arm 34 by a screw 52. A knob 54 is secured to one end of the screw 42 and because the threads at the two ends of the screw 42 are of opposite hand rotative adjustment of said screw produces pivotal adjustment of the arms 32 and 34 in equal extent but in opposite directions toward and away from each other.

The arm 32 also has a protractor type scale portion 56 one end of which is connected to the end of the rearward extension 38 of said arm and the other end of which is connected to said arm by a leg 58. The end 4| of the rearward extension 40 of the arm 34 acts as a pointer which, in cooperation with the scale portion 56, indicates or measures the angle between the arms 32 and 34.

A nut element 60 is secured to the sectorshaped plate 22 by a screw 62 and a screw 84 is threaded through said nut element. A knob 66 is secured to one end of the screw 54 and a sphere or ball 68 is secured to the outer end of the screw 64, said ball 68 being disposed in a pocket or recess within the bracket l8 as best seen in Fig. 4. One end of the recess within ting rotative adjustment of said screw whereby 3 rotation of the screw 64 produces pivotal movement of the sector-shaped plate 22 about the pivot screw 24. The elongate slot 12 is provided to permit a small amount of angular movement of the screw 64 relative to the bracket I8 such as results from pivotal movement of the plate 22.

Because the arms 32 and 34 are interconnected with the sector-shaped plate 22, through the screw 42, flanges 44 and bracket 36, pivotal movement of the plate 22 about the pivot 24 produces 10 an equal pivotal movement of said arms 32 and 34 about said pivot thereby changing the direction of the bisector of the angle between the arms 32 and 34 relative to the axis of the nozzle I0. The plate 22 is provided with a scale I4 which cooperates with an index mark 16 on the bracket I8 to indicate the angular position of said plate about its pivot 24. The scale I4 has a zero mark intermediate to its ends and when said zero mark is in alignment with the index 20 mark I6, as illustrated, the bisector of the angle between the arms 32 and 34 is parallel to the geometrical axis of the nozzle I0. The scale I4 in cooperation with the index mark 16 indicates the pivotal movement of the plate 22 and said 25 bisector from the position illustrated so that the scale 14 measures the offset angle of said bisector relative to the geometrical axis of the nozzle I0.

With the construction described, rotative adjustment of the screw 42 changes the angle between the arms 32 and 34 without changing the direction of the bisector of said angle. On the other hand rotative adjustment of the screw 64 changes the direction of said bisector thereby changing the magnitude of said offset angle with- 35 out changing the angle between said arms 32 and 34.

A flat plate 80, having a straight edge 82 disposed parallel to the axis of the pivot screw 24,

is secured to the arm 32 by means of a bracket 84 and screws 86. The screws 86 extend through an elongate slot 88 in the arm 32 whereby said slot permits adjustment of the plate 80 along the arm 32. The plate 80 makes an angle of about to its supporting arm 32 and, in all positions 45 of adjustment of the plate 80 along the arm 32, the straight edge 82 is parallel to the axis of the screw 24. In addition in all said positions of said adjustment, said straight edge is the closest portion of the plate 80 to the axis of the nozzle I0 so that as the arm 32 is swung inwardly toward the fuel spray discharging from said nozzle the edge 82 is the first portion of the plate 80 to contact said spray. A plate 90, having a straight edge 92 disposed parallel to the axis of tion in all positions of adjustment of the plate 90 along the arm 34, the straight edge 92 is the closest portion of the plate 90 to the axis of the nozzle I0 so that as said arm 34 is swung inwardly toward the nozzle fuel spray the edge 92 is the first portion of the plate 90 to contact said spray. 7

The plates and 84 are disposed sothat the angle between their straight edges 82 and 92 about the axis of the pivot 24 is equal to the angle between the arms 32 and 34 in all positions of adjustment of said plates along their resp ti e The plate makes 60 arms. In addition each of the plates 80 and 90 preferably is made of translucent material.

The arm 32 also has a flat sheet-like plate I00 secured thereto adjacent to its end. The plate I00 has a flat surface facing the nozzle fuel spray and disposed in the plane defined by the straight edge 82 and the axis of the pivot 24. Similarly, the arm 34 has a flat sheet-like plate I02 secured thereto adjacent to its end. The plate I02 has a flat surface facing the fuel spray and disposed in the plane defined by the straight edge 92 and the axis of the pivot 24. The plates I00 and I02 may also be made of translucent material.

The operation of the spray angle measuring apparatus described is as follows: The apparatus is mounted on the fuel conduit I2 as illustrated with the axis of the pivot 24 intersecting the geometrical axis of the nozzle 10 at the discharge end of said nozzle. The offset angle screw 64 is adjusted to bring the plate 22 to zero offset angle as indicated by the scale 14 and index 16 whereby the bisector of the angle between the arms 32 and 34 is parallel to the geometrical axis of the nozzle Ill. The screw 42 is then adjusted to open the arms 32 and 34. Then after the fuel spray has been initiated, the screw 42 is adjusted to pivotally swing the arms 32 and 34 in toward the fuel spray until the edges 82 and 92 just contact said spray. This fact is indicated by the appearance of tiny droplets iminging on the surfaces of the plates 80 and 90. The screw 42 is then adjusted to swing the arms 32 and 34 slightly outwardly until there is no disturbance of the fuel spray. The scale 56 now indicates the spray angle of the fuel spray at the edges 82 and 92 in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the pivot 24.

Should one of the straight edges 82 and 92 contact the fuel spray before the other, this indicates that the center line or axis of the spray is offset with respect to the geometrical axis of the nozzle. Then the offset screw 64 is adjusted in an attempt to swing the arms 32 and 34 to a position in which they are equi-distant from the center line or axis of the nozzle spray. The screw 42 is then adjusted to bring the edges 82 and 92 into contact with the fuel spray. If both edges 82 and 92 now simultaneously contact the fuel spray this indicates that the bisector of the angle between the arms 32 and 34 and the center line or axis of the nozzle spray now lie in a common plane, that is, that the arms 32 and 34 are equi-distant from the fuel spray.

Several adjustments of the offset angle screw 64 may be necessary before this symmetrical position of the arms 32 and 34 relative to the fuel spray is established. Then the arms 32 and 34 are adjusted as before so that their edges 82 and 92 just clear the fuel spray. The fuel spray angle can now be read on the scale 56 and the angle of offset of the spray center line from the geometrical axis of the nozzle can be read on the scale 14. These measurements of the fuel spray are in a plane perpendicular to the axis along which the pivot screw 24 is disposed and said measurements can be repeated in as many planes as desired by clamping the apparatus in various positions about the fuel conduit I2 so that the shape of the fuel spray at the edges 82 and 92 can be determined as completely as desired. In addition the shape of outer edge of the spray can be determined at various distances from the nozzle I0 by changing the position of the plates 80 and 90 along their respective arms 32 and 34.

The bracket I8 is adjustable along the rod H to accommodate wide and narrow spray jets.

The fuel spray angle is measured at the edges 82 and 92 of the plates 80 and 90. The plates Hi0 and I02 serve to indicate whether this spray angle is maintained beyond the plates 80 and 90. Thus, the observer can tell whether the fuel spray also contacts the plates I00 and I02 when said spray just contacts the edges 82 and 92 of the plates 80 and 90 respectively.

With the apparatus described, both the spray angle and the angle of offset of the spray relative to the geometrical axis of the nozzle can be measured in any one plane with a single set ting of the apparatus.

The invention, however, is not limited to the particular means comprising the plates 80 and 9t and their straight edges 82 and 92 for contacting the nozzle fluid spray and providing an indication of such contact. Thus other means carried by the arms 32 and 34 for movement into and out of contact with the fluid spray could be used. For example fiat plates such as the plates Hill and H12 alone could be used to measure the nozzle spray angle since the observer can see whether or not the fluid spray contacts said flat plates. It should also be noted that the invention obviously is not limited to use with fuel nozzles.

While I have described my invention in detail in its present preferred embodiment, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art, after understanding my invention, that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit or scope thereof. I aim in the appended claims to cover all such modifications.

I claim as my invention:

1. Apparatus for measuring the spray angle of a fluid spray nozzle; said apparatus comprising a pair of arms; means pivotally connecting said arms; means for supporting said arms on a fluid spray nozzle with the axis of said pivotal connection disposed perpendicular to the nozzle axis and intersecting said nozzle axis at the discharge end of the nozzle; a pair of means, one for and carried by each of said arms for movement into and out of the path of the nozzle fluid spray upon pivotal movement of said arms about said pivot axis; and means operatively connected to said arms for pivotally moving said arms about said pivot axis for changing the angle between said pair of means about said pivot axis and for changing the direction of the bisector of said angle.

2. Apparatus for measuring the spray angle of a fluid spray nozzle; said apparatus comprising a pair of arms; means pivotally connecting said arms; means for supporting said arms on a fluid spray nozzle with the axis of their pivotal connection disposed perpendicular to the geometrical axis of said nozzle and intersecting the nozzle axis at the discharge end of the nozzle; a pair of means one for and carried by each arm for movement into and out of the path of the nozzle fluid spray; upon pivotal movement of said arms about said pivot axis; means operatively connected to said arms for simultaneously moving said arms through equal angles but in opposite directions about said pivot axis; means for measuring said angle; means operatively connected to said arms for simultaneously moving said arms in the same direction about said pivot axis for changing the direction of the bisector of said angle; and means for measuring the angle between said bisector and the geometrical axis of said nozzle.

3. Apparatus for measuring the spray angle of a fluid spray nozzle; said apparatus comprising a pair of arms; means pivotally connecting said arms; means for supporting said arms on a fluid spray nozzle with the axis of their pivotal connection disposed perpendicular to the geometrical axis of said nozzle and intersecting the nozzle axis at the discharge end of the nozzle; a pair of plates, one for and carried by each of said arms, each of said plates having a straight edge disposed parallel to said pivot axis and constituting the closest portion of said plate to the geometrical axis of the nozzle, said plates being carried by said arms for movement into and out of the path of the nozzle fluid spray upon pivotal movement of said arms about said pivot axis; means operatively connected to said arms for simultaneously moving said arms through equal angles but in opposite directions about said pivot axis for changing the angle between said straight edges about said pivot axis; means for measuring said angle; means operatively connected to said arms for simultaneously moving said arms in the same direction about said pivot axis for changing the direction of the bisector of said angle; and means for measuring the angle between said bisector and the geometrical axis of said nozzle.

4. Apparatus as recited in claim 3 in which said plates are made of translucent material.

5. Apparatus as recited in claim 4. in which means are provided for adjusting said plates along said arms.

6. Apparatus for measuring the spray angle of a fluid spray nozzle; said apparatus comprising a pair of arms; means pivotally connecting said arms; means for supporting said arms on a fluid spray nozzle with the axis of their pivotal connection disposed perpendicular to the geometrical axis of said nozzle and intersecting said nozzle axis at the discharge end of the nozzle; a pair of first plates, one for and carried by each of said arms, each of said plates having a flat surface disposed in a plane including said pivot axis; a pair of second plates, one for and carried by each of said arms, each of said second plates having a straight edge disposed parallel to said pivot axis, the straight edge of the second plate and the flat surface of the first plate carried by one of said arms being disposed in a common plane with said second plate being inclined to said plane and disposed so that from its said straight edge said second plate extends away from said fluid spray and with the angle between said plane and the corresponding plane defined by the plates of the other arm being equal to the angle between said arms, said plates being carried by said arms for movement into and out of the path of the nozzle fluid spray upon pivotal movement of said arms about said pivot axis; means operatively connected to said arms for simultaneously moving said arms through equal angles but in opposite directions about said pivot axis for changing the angle between said planes about said pivot axis; means for measuring said angle; means operatively connected to said arms for simultaneously moving said arms in the same direction about said pivot axis for changing the direction of the bisector of said angle; and means for measuring the angle between said bisector and the geometrical axis of said nozzle.

7. Apparatus for measuring the spray angle of a fluid spray nozzle; said apparatus comprising a support structure; a pair of arms; a member; means pivotally connecting said arms and member to said structure for pivotal movement about a common axis; means for mounting said structure on a fluid spray nozzle with said pivot axis intersecting said nozzle axis at the discharge end of the nozzle; means for pivotally moving said member about said pivot axis; a rotatable screw connected intermediate its ends to said member so as to restrain said screw against movement along the screw axis relative to said member while permitting rotative movement of said screw, said screw having right hand threads on one side of its said connection and left hand threads on the other side; a first nut engageablewith said right hand threads and connected to one of said arms and a second nut engageable with said left hand threads and connected to the other of said arms whereby pivotal movement of said member is transmitted through said screw to said arms to produce an equal pivotal movement in the same direction of both said arms and whereby rotation of said screw causes pivotal movement of said arms to- 25 ward or away from each other; means for measuring the angular position of said member relative to the geometrical axis of said nozzle; means carried by said arms for measuring the angle therebetween relative to said pivot axis; and a pair of means, one for and carried by each of said arms for movement into and out of the path of the nozzle fluid spray.

8. Apparatus as recited in claim 7 in which each of said pair of means comprises a. plate having a straight edge disposed parallel to said pivot axis and constituting the closest portion of said plate to the geometrical axis of said nozzle.

WILLIAM F. SMITH.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

